Erstellt am: 21. 8. 2015 - 14:27 Uhr

Greece & Syriza

Is the party that held Europe on a knife-edge about to splinter or strengthen?

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has resigned and called early elections for September 20th. He’s hoping for a new, stronger mandate to implement a three-year bailout Programme that has sparked a rebellion within his radical left Syriza party.

Greece's president had asked opposition parties if they can form a new government. None have been expected to be able to do so and early elections are likely to happen on September 20th. According to some Greek media reports today, rebels from Syriza, are to break away and form a new party. In fact, 25 rebel Syriza MPs are planning on joining the new party, called Leiki Anotita (Popular Unity). The party is set to be led by former energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, who was strongly opposed to the bailout deal.

So how much this could affect the bailout situation for Greece and how nervous are creditors of another possible change-over of government? For thoughts of all of these matters, we went to Athens and Brussels.

North Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered his army to be placed on a war footing.

He's also issued an ultimatum to South Korea demanding it halt anti-North propaganda broadcasts by tomorrow or face military action.

Tensions on the divided peninsula escalated yesterday when North Korea fired shells into South Korea and the South responded with its own artillery barrage. So why the current tensions now? We went to Seoul to speak with our correspondent there, Stephen Evans.